There have been incremental steps in the astonishing ascendancy of the Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles from modest second-division soccer club without a stadium into a continental power.

Tonight, they take another one. They host Corinthians in the Copa Libertadores.

That’s Corinthians, Brazil’s richest and most popular club. Corinthians, the reigning Copa Libertadores champion after defeating Argentina’s Boca Juniors in the final in July. Corinthians, the reigning FIFA Club World Cup champion after defeating England’s Chelsea in the final in December.

That's Corinthians, which has former AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato and five other players with caps on the Brazil national team.

That’s Corinthians, which is known in Brazil simply as Timao. The Big Club.

“They’re not just the world champion for no reason,” Xolos midfielder Cristian Pellerano said after practice Monday. “We know it will be a tough game.”

The 5 p.m. kickoff at Estadio Caliente (live on Fox Deportes) is Tijuana’s third match in the Copa Libertadores, the premier club tournament for the Americas that features midweek games during the Mexican Clausura season and some of the most hellacious road trips imaginable (Tijuana and Sao Paulo are 6,048 miles apart).

The Xolos lead Group 5 with two wins in two games, 1-0 at Millonarios of Colombia and 4-0 at home last week against San Jose of Bolivia. Corinthians is second at 1-0-1, beating Millonarios at home and tying San Jose 1-1 in the rarefied air (12,159 feet) of Oruro, Bolivia.

The same teams play next week in Sao Paulo. The top two in each group advance to a 16-team knockout bracket from May, with the finals in late July.

It’s a tricky game for the Xolos, though, their sixth in 26 days with a roster that added no major signings after winning Mexico’s Apertura title in December. And now left back Edgar Castillo is out, undergoing surgery Monday to repair three facial fractures sustained in a 1-0 weekend loss at Atlas. Castillo is expected to miss a month.

“We need to be the team we’ve always been,” midfielder Leandro Augusto said. “The team has shown an identity and mystique in our game, and we don’t need to change anything. We are playing a team with a lot of history, but we know if we play with intensity we can make a difference.”

Even rarer than the world club champion coming to Tijuana is that as of Tuesday night tickets were still available at regularly soldout Estadio Caliente. The Xolos received additional tickets after Corinthians was ordered to play home games behind closed doors and return their away allotments, punishment for a flare launched by supporters attending the match at San Jose killing a 14-year-old boy.